"Life's either a daring adventure or nothing." Helen Keller

Little Bilbo Baggins, er, Miss S

This past week, I had the pleasure to meet Miss S. Yes, she’s my daughter, and no, she’s not suffering from a case of the Marsha, Marsha, Marsha’s. But often she is lumped in with her older sister, because they are thick as thieves, so the fact I had some pseudo alone time with her, allowed me to see what being 2 years and 5 months is all about.

SUNDAY, January 8th

Miss S had her first official playdate. The girl who came over, Miss M, is going to be in the same preschool class as Miss S. I was excited to see how Miss S would play with Miss M, with them being the same age and all.

Playdate #1 success rate? Probably a 2 to 3 on the scale of 1 – 10.

While Miss S acknowledged Miss M’s existence, and shared her toys (yay) she wanted to play with the older girls. In fact, at one stage of the playdate, Miss Q and Miss S started wrestling together (playfully, like raccoons) while their friends played with their toys.

MONDAY, January 9th

We met Granny at the pool, and Miss S joined her for a swim.

It was so lovely to see the look of delight on Miss S’s face as she jumped, glided and splashed around with Granny. Though I wished I could have joined her, Miss S didn’t notice, she was on cloud nine.

TUESDAY, January 10th

Madame N (our dog) led Miss S and Q into a rather large and deep tidal pool. Miss Q was tall enough to backtrack without getting her boots wet; Miss S wasn’t so lucky. After the initial panic, and some coaxing from her dear ol’ mum who didn’t want to jump into the frigid water, Miss S realized that she could retrace her steps.

Back at the car I poured half the ocean out of each of her boots.

WEDNESDAY, January 11th

While Miss Q attended her first birthday party without me, I celebrated this milestone with Miss S and Miss C at Crumsby’s. (Naturally, my cellphone was close at hand.)

Before getting out of the car, Miss S told me she couldn’t play at Crumsby’s because her hands and clothes would get too dirty.

Happy as I am that she has good hygiene, I have to wonder if I clean her too much after outings…

Inside, Miss S and I got a “tea party for two” and she drank all the milk out of the tea pot before I could pour myself a cup.

When she was finished nibbling her vanilla cupcake with pink sprinkles, she hopped off her white chair and went to join the other children playing on a Thomas the Train table. As she pushed a pink car around the painted on track, a sour look came over her face. “That girl touched me,” she declared.

“That’s okay, she’s trying to play with you,” I told her.

Miss S looked at the girl, like she didn’t believe me, then continued to move the pink car around the track.

THURSDAY, January 12th

Miss S might be teething. Her darn two year old molars keep playing tricks in her mouth. Sometimes they’re up, sometimes they’re down. My hope is this is the last push they need and they’ll be up once and for all – well until they fall out and new ones grow in their place.

She and Miss Q had a crazy art afternoon. Pictures flying off the floor, presents for me, Miss C, Daddy and themselves. We need a room dedicated to their art – perhaps there’s space in the Louvre?

FRIDAY, January 13th

Miss S wants to have her hair cut like daddy. (Not this again.) She thinks that if she cuts her hair that short, her hair will turn from blonde to golden brown (Miss Q’s colour). She wants to go to Lizzie Lee and Me for the haircut, and to the store to get more Princess Pull-Ups.

Naturally the message she hears back from her daddy and I is to love her golden locks, but I can tell she’s not satisfied. She is the only one in our family with blonde hair, and no matter how many times we tell her Daddy used to be blonde, all she sees is grey.

Later, when we were at the neighbourhood park, which this cynic has to admit is pretty swell, Miss S is once again confronted with children her own age. She stands in place, arms crossed, a Miss Q-esq scowl on her face.

“What’s wrong?”

“There’s too many kids on there,” she says, referring to a toddler ladder, platform and slide.

“Just say excuse me and climb up. It’s okay.”

With a giant sigh (thanks for teaching her that Miss Q) she walks over to the structure and climbs up. In no time, she’s in a routine of climbing and sliding, other children forgotten.

SATURDAY, January 14th

Miss S has become quite the Daddy’s girl. This Saturday she helps him make blueberry pancakes for breakfast, and fixes things downstairs with him in his work-nook.

When she wasn’t following Daddy around with her plastic drill, she wanted books read to her… many books read to her.

Pinkalicious, is one of her favs but she will sit through any book you choose to read; I am constantly amazed with her patience and concentration. (She sat through the first three chapters of Charlotte’s Web.)

***

Now that the snows of January are upon us, I’m seeing an old familiar side of Miss S: just like last year, she would rather be sitting inside with a vanilla steamed milk than marching around in the snow.

Twice I have suited the littles up for snow fun, and once Miss S refused to go outside, the second time she just wanted to sit in the stroller.

My husband had better success tonight – she actually walked down the street with him, but I suspect the novelty of walking in the dark and investigating a road closure had something to do with it.

We’ve also begun to suspect she’s part Hobbit. Every day she eats two breakfasts: one with my husband before he leaves for work; and a second with Miss Q when she wakes. But if you call her Bilbo Baggins, she’ll frown and say, “I not Bilbo. I Miss S.”

I am so lucky to experience life with Miss S. At two and five months, she is spunky and loving. She’s always up for action, providing she stays warm, and won’t pass up an opportunity to climb.

I feel like we’re standing on the cusp: soon Miss S will be swallowed into a giant world of activities and programs without her parents and she’ll start making friends of her very own; but for right now she’s content to pal around with her sister, leap into bed for her naps, and, of course, nibble upon second breakfasts.

One Response

I remember when my oldest child was only 5, she was invited for a play date. I was so naive. I had no idea kids at age 5 went to play alone. I guess the reason we never had preschool playdates is because everyone lived so scattered all over. By my 2nd child, you bet, we had lots of preschool playdates. I had grown up 🙂

Me

I enjoy watching soccer in the rain. Most of our crafts involve glitter, finger paint or both. I am learning to eat my vegetables. And, whether in socks or bare feet, I absolutely hate stepping on Lego. Here I blog about life with my three little girls, husband and dog.